Can a No-Fly Zone Stop Gadhafi?

After Moammar Gadhafi made a defiant and rambling speech to the people of Libya yesterday, where he refused to step down and swore that he would die a martyr, the international community was left to decide exactly how to respond. German Chancelor Angela Merkel called the speech ‘alarming’ and threatened sanctions on the North African Nation. Meanwhile the head of Libya’s anti-Gadhafi delegation at the UN called on the Security Council to address the violence that he has unleashed on the Libyan people. Some are worried attacks on protesters by the Libyan air force could be next.

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You’re not stopping the violence by having a no-fly zone. What you’re doing is at least stopping the tremendous horror of bombs falling on people in crowded streets or squares.

Even before Gadhafi’s speech, Lord David Owen, former British Foreign Minister, was calling on the U.N. to create a no fly zone over Libya in order to prevent Gadhafi’s air force from shooting and bombing protesters.